Counselor's Notebook, September 2018

MASCA

Counselor’s Notebook

MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION

Vol. 55, No. 1

September 2018

President’s Message: Welcome Back!

By JENNIFER MCGUIRE, MASCA President

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elcome back and here we go again! It is hard to believe that another summer has come and gone and a new school year is underway. I hope the summer has been rejuvenating and has provided you with time to reflect and recharge so that you are ready to tackle all that the 2018-19 school year brings! For me, this school year brings on the added challenge of being the MASCA President. I am honored to have this opportunity again, and I look forward to leading our organization as we continue to move the profession forward.

I have to be honest--I do love the summer. It brings a little more time for myself and with my family, a few more days to sleep in, and of course warmer weather. (I would be lying if I said that the opportunity to have a school-year schedule didn’t at least play a little part in my career path.) Despite this, the beginning of the school year is always an exciting time for me, and not just because I need the structure.

What are your favorite parts about those first few school

weeks? I love welcoming incoming ninth grade students, meeting new colleagues, and the fact that my office is about as clean and organized as it will ever be. I also love beginning the final year of high school with my seniors, and helping young men and women who I have watched grow and mature for three years plan their next steps. Of course, there are also never ending schedule changes and the multitude of dress code infractions that last until the weather turns.

For me, each first day of the school year is not just a start, it’s a “re-start”-- a chance to set new professional goals and Printed on recycled paper

try to achieve them. My goal this year is to try to keep that excitement of September from fading as I settle back into the groove of the school year.

Last month, I had the opportunity to spend the day with most of the MASCA governing board members as we prepared for the year ahead at our Leadership Development Institute. At the start of our day, I asked each member of the team to share with the rest of the group why he or she chose their career--or in some cases, how the career chose him or her. It was truly eye opening to hear about the unique experiences that led each of us to the same profession. At the same time, it was also a reminder of all of the different skills and attributes that we each bring to the table. Together, we make a great team.

I am really excited to work with this diverse and energetic group of people. I know we have a great year ahead for school counselors in Massachusetts, and I look forward to working diligently on your behalf.

ANNA MARIA COLLEGE Join us for our Fall Open Houses September 29th October 21st

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Something Greater.

annamaria.edu 508.849.3360

September Awareness Dates Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Children’s Good Manners Month Library Card Sign-up Month Na onal Childhood Obesity Awareness Month Na onal Preparedness Month Na onal Recovery Month Self-Improvement Month Sexual Health Awareness Month Suicide Preven on Month Sept. 15 – Oct. 15 Hispanic Heritage Month 8 Interna onal Literacy Day 9 Grandparents Day 9-15 Na onal Suicide Preven on Week 10 World Suicide Preven on Day 15 World Clean-Up Day 17 Cons tu on Day/Ci zenship Day 19 Interna onal Talk Like a Pirate Day 21 Interna onal Day of Peace 23-29 Child Passenger Safety Week 24-28 Ally Week 26 Na onal School Backpack Awareness Day 26 Na onal Women’s Health & Fitness Day

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COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Excellent Professional Development Opportuni es for the 2018/2019 School Year

By RUTH CARRIGAN, MASCA Professional Development Chair

MASCA is excited to offer/ year. To find out more about this day workshop in the fall, participate support several exciting professional development opportunities this school year. We hope you will take advantage of these programs to inform your practice and to help your students find success.

High Quality Career and College Advising - MASCA is proud to support and endorse a new training opportunity for College and Career Advising for high school students offered by The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The workshops are intended for small teams of high school staff led by counselors and supported by teachers and administrators. They will offer the participating teams the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to design and implement high quality CCA. The workshops are being designed to be fully aligned with the Mass Model 2.0 and will offer a systemic way to address Career Development Education. The three days of the workshop series will be offered in four different regions during the 2018/2019 school

FREE professional development series, please check out the MASCA website (www.masca.org) for a link to DESE’s registration page.

Helping Your Students Reach Higher by Digging Deeper with Data – Earn the Data Usage Credential - Based on this program’s past success, we are pleased to offer this excellent PD program again for 2018/2019. Are you looking for a way to improve your professional practice and to improve outcomes for your students at the same time?

Do you want to learn how to identify at risk students and to develop an effective intervention plan? If so, please consider earning the College and Career Data Usage Certificate for school counselors and other educators via a unique partnership between MASCA (Massachusetts School Counselors Association) and the MA Department of Elementary & Secondary Education.

To earn this credential, counselors and school counseling/administrative teams will need to attend a half

in several webinars, and complete a data project aimed at improving outcomes for students at their schools.

An optional second meeting and Data Showcase will take place on Monday morning, April 29th at the Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis in conjunction with our annual MASCA conference.

Participants will learn how to use EWIS, EDWIN, and DART Data.

Once the requirements have been met and the project completed, participants will earn 15 PDPS and the College and Career Readiness Data Usage credential. There is a $35 program fee for this professional development opportunity. Please check out the MASCA website (www.masca.org) for dates, locations, and registration information.

If you have any questions regarding either of these excellent professional development opportunities, please contact Ruth Carrigan, MASCA Professional Development Chair, at Ruth.Carrigan@whrsd.org.

Mark your calendars

for our annual school counseling conference!

Our 2019 theme is "Find Your Oasis – Reflect, Refresh, Recharge!"

The 2019 MASCA Conference will be held at the Hyannis Resort and Conference Center on Monday afternoon, April 29 (pre-conference) and Tuesday, April 30 (full day conference).

Our pre-conference session, “Raising Generation Tech: Creating Tech Healthy Schools, Families, and Communities”, will feature Janell Hofmann, and our keynote address on Tuesday will feature John Hodge and his message “Be the One” reinforcing that one caring adult can make all the difference in the world.

For full conference details including registration info, call for presenters, and exhibit information, please check out the MASCA website at www.masca.org.

SEPTEMBER 2018

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THE HATE U GIVE

a book review by April Brunelle (https://counselorreadsnreviews.wordpress.com/) The Hate U Give written by Angie Thomas is a hot topic commodity these days, and rightfully so. Thomas artfully covers all of the conflicts that a young person could potentially identify with in today’s society. A young black female who grows up in the “hood” as she describes it and attends a mostly white private high school navigates traumatic experiences and racism in society, while the more universal teenage topics such friends, dating, and family remain ever present in her life. This narrative is told from the perspective of Starr, who is a role model for all females (and youth) in the decision making process of navigating the harsh complexities teenagers face today. This young adult novel is a must read for all educators and students alike. As easy as it would be to say that this novel represents the black experience of racism in society today through the lens of a youth, the beauty of this novel is that there are so many variations of narrative conflict that I would imagine students of all races can find something to identify with from following this story. And if they cannot find something to identify with in this novel, it is a great building block for providing opportunities for students with privilege to gain insight into a life that is different from theirs, to begin to develop empathic skills that can grow over time, and most importantly to begin the discussion about what is happening in America today outside of their community.

This book was an easy and intriguing read. Starr is an easily relatable character and a true hero. It is important to highlight all of the 4

narrative conflicts that Starr encounters within her journey to her own personal establishment within her world. Hopefully one of the following conflicts is one that your students could identify with, making this book a tool in your toolbox for either individual or group counseling, literacy development, or just something for them to do while they are waiting to be picked up or to read on the 30 minute bus ride home. In this novel, Starr encounters conflicts with both “worlds” she lives in, person vs. society. She describes these two worlds as Garden Heights, where she lives and grew up, and Williamson Prep, where she goes to school. These two worlds highlight both the conflicts of a difference in socio-economic statuses as well as a difference in the racial majority of the community.

The challenge I am currently encountering in highlighting all of the narrative conflicts in the story as I write is a direct consequence of how well Thomas wove in these conflicts seamlessly throughout Starr’s story.

The take away from that is there really is no separating conflicts on an individual basis when pertaining to a teen’s life. Each conflict we encounter as a youth, be it in regards to our family life, our school life, our socio-economic status, our race, or our abilities really are all connected to one another. This concept is best described through the Social-Ecological Model, which the Center for Disease Prevention highlights that [this model] “…allows us to understand the range of factors that put people at risk for violence or protect them from experiencing or perpetrating violence”. When

examining the conflicts that Starr encounters with students, it could be beneficial to highlight this model, either explicitly or implicitly, and what it represents for Starr, her community, your student’s community, or your students. By having students practice examining other people’s social-ecological factors that influence their lives, it may be the steps of building empathy within students for others, or for them to begin their own self-transformation of becoming the mature responsible adults we all expect them to be. In today’s society where we are constantly discussing school violence, empathy building or self discovery is key, and the CDC, and more importantly Angie Thomas, hit the nail on the head with this one.

Back to all of the interwoven conflicts for your knowledge. Starr deals with peer conflicts, both in regards to race, socio-economic status, and the commonplace conflict of “girl-world” as described

by Rosalind Wiseman in Queen Bees & Wannabes. If you read my last blog post, Wiseman’s (2009) SEAL method (Stop & Strategize, Explain, Affirm, & Lock) can be directly practiced through the reading of The Hate U Give in a small group for girls (or any youth really). In regards to her friends from (continued next page) Attention: All call for Counselor’s Notebooks prior to 1999.

Please send issues to Donna Brown as we rebuild our MASCA CN Archives.

COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

THE HATE U GIVE (continued) school, pages 77, 250-252, 340, and 433 are all great stopping points to analyze how Starr uses the SEAL method to address her concerns with her friends, and to ask how students would handle the situation themselves. In fact, the entire novel is an example of how Starr uses the SEAL method to deal with her complicated social-ecological circles that are deeply interwoven within each other. This could be another great question to prompt discussion and reflection among students.

Starr deals with the conflict that comes about in an interracial romantic relationship and also dating in general. There is one part in the novel, specifically pg. 87, that acknowledges sexual aspects of dating and I would recommend reviewing this page specifically to make sure it is an age appropriate topic for the students you are working with, and to be prepared to potentially answer any questions that might come up, or just be ready for the awkwardness in general.

Starr deals with the conflict of racism and how black Americans, particularly young gentlemen, are negatively portrayed in the media.

Visit the Counselor's Corner sec on of the MASCA website to learn more about events, resources, and informa on not officially sponsored

by MASCA, but which may be of general interest to the counseling community. h ps://masca.wildapricot.org/ Counselors-Corner SEPTEMBER 2018

There are a plethora of opportunities within the book to stop and analyze stereotypes and racism in America today, regardless of the background or makeup of the students you are working with. This is a great opportunity to ask students how the actions and messages in the book reflect society today.

Starr deals with the concept of police brutality within the force, both within her family and in her community, and what role race plays for both officers and civilians alike. This can be a difficult topic for some to discuss, so I would recommend first self reflection on your own opinions on this, as well as reflections on any biases and opinions you may have. These topics can sometimes quickly turn into a political discussion, so it is extremely important to think out prior how you might respond to questions that might come up in regards to this topic. It is not our place to push our own agendas, but to provide a safe environment for students to start to explore their own opinions and experiences in a professional manner.

Lastly, Starr deals with acute traumatic experiences, specifically in relation to community violence. *Spoiler Alert!* An extremely traumatic event unexpectedly occurs in chapter 2, where Starr’s friend is killed in front of her. I anticipate that this may be triggering for some students, so subtle trigger warnings may be beneficial, and be prepared to make time for an open discussion or a private discussion with a student surrounding their experiences.

Unfortunately, for many students at my school, these traumatic experiences can be a reality, and many of my students are at various stages of grief or dealing with their own personal experiences, complex or

acute. One reason I keep this book in my toolbox is it is a positive way for students to connect with their own lives, incorporating a positive voice that truly analyzes and reflects upon what they are dealing with in their day to day lives.

As a white educator working with mostly youth of color, I appreciate these opportunities to have open and honest discussions about race and race relations. I am most thankful to Angie Thomas, who truly wrote an educational masterpiece, and it was just plain interesting too! In conclusion, this book can be used in a variety of ways to incite meaningful reflection and discussion, build empathic skills, tackle peer conflict, tackle racism in America, and build literacy skills through group/individual counseling, reading groups, classroom independent reading, and the list goes on. Thomas’ integration of Tupac Shakur’s THUG LIFE sends a modern, powerful message that needs to radiate among all readers, both young and old.

References: Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Socio-Ecological Model: A Framework for Prevention. In Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Our Approach. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ violenceprevention/overview/social-ecologicalmodel.html.

Thomas, Angie. (2017). The Hate U Give. New York, New York: Balzer & Bray.

Wiseman, Rosalind. (2009). Queen Bees & Wannabes Second Edition.

New York, New York: Harmony Books.

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CAREER PROFILES

By Jennifer McGuire, MASCA President This is the final article in my series from last school year of profiles on career opportunities, selected from a workshop I attended entitled “Careers Your Students Need to Know About” at the 2017 ASCA conference. The session on careers paths in safety was sponsored by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. The BCSP, whose sole purpose is to certify safety professionals, is recognized as the leader in high quality credentialing for safety, health and environmental practitioners.

Not everyone knows what a being a safety professional entails. In practice, safety professionals make assessments to determine risks at

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worksites, assess potential hazards, evaluate risks and hazard control measures, prepare emergency response plans and investigate incidents. Safety professionals may also be involved in hazard recognition, hazardous materials management, and environmental protection, for example. The purpose of this industry is to prevent events that may result in injury, illness, damage, or environmental harm.

Interestingly, there are multiple ways to enter and grow within this field, some more deliberate than others. As we work with students around post-secondary planning, it may be useful to be familiar with some of the options:

-Safety and Health Degrees: Some individuals may enter the field by pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in safety. It is possible to start with an associate degree in safety, or a related field.

-Safety by Assignment: It is often the case that an individual becomes involved with safety because they have been assigned by their employer to some sort of safety responsibility, either as part of their job or as part of a committee.

-Craft-to-Professional: In certain cases, a person becomes involved in safety through a leadership role. As a supervisor, they may be responsible for the safety of others and through advancement may become a safety professional.

-Safety by Experience: And finally, in cases where an individual was part of an incident where they or others were injured or became ill.

As a result, the individual may be motivated to pursue safety as a career field.

To become a Certified Safety Professional, a bachelor’s degree is required in any field or an associate degree in safety, health or environment, along with additional work experience. In our work with high school students, we will likely recommend students with an interest safety careers to pursue a degree. A search for such programs on a typical search engine, such as the Massachusetts Career Information System, is challenging because of the many different programs of study.

However, the BCSP maintains a user-friendly database, www.bcsp.org/ Resources/Academic-Database1, (continued next page) COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

MASCA 2018/2019 STAFF & BOARD MEMBERS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DONNA M. BROWN P.O. Box 366, 779 Center Street Bryantville, MA 02327 Tel. 781-293-2835 E-mail: executivedirector@masca.org PRESIDENT JENNIFER MCGUIRE Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School E-mail: jmcguire@uppercapetech.org PRESIDENT-ELECT Barbara Meyer Stoughton High School E-mail: b_meyer@stoughtonschools.org PAST PRESIDENT MEGAN KRELL, Ph.D Fitchburg State University E-mail: mkrell@fitchburgstate.edu RUTH CARRIGAN, M.Ed. Whitman-Hanson Regional HS E-mail: Ruth.Carrigan@whrsd.org ED CONNOR Dean College EMAIL: econnor@dean.edu

CAREER PROFILES (continued) that enables you to search by state for safety-related programs. There are programs at four community colleges within Massachusetts, two related to fire science and two related to environmental, and four four-year institutions. Many of the programs in Massachusetts are at the Master’s Degree or Doctoral Degree level.

Keene State College in New Hampshire offers a Bachelor’s Degree in Safety and Occupational Health Applied Science. The college’s website provides clear information regarding the program outcomes and career opportunities. The program is described as “hands-on” and “practical”, with students on-site in real world experiences.

SEPTEMBER 2018

AMY L. COOK, Ph.D. University of MA Boston E-mail: amy.cook@umb.edu LAURIE DICKSTEIN-FISCHER , Ph.D. Salem State University Email: ldicksteinfisc@salemstate.edu HELEN O’DONNELL, Ed.D. E-mail: helenod@att.net JOHANNA SMITH Lynn Vocational Technical Institute Email: smithjoh@lynnschools.org REBECCA SPENCER West Boylston Middle High School Email: rebeccaspencer@wbschools.com TREASURER ASHLEY CARON E-mail: ashcicero@hotmail.com MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR KATHERINE GETCHELL E-mail: membership@masca.org WEB/TECH COORDINATOR & COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK EDITOR JEAN ATWATER-WILLIAMS E-mail: webmaster@masca.org or cn@masca.org

A message from your new editor...

Dear Readers, In addition to my role as webmaster, I am pleased and proud to be supporting The Massachusetts School Counselors Association in the capacity of Counselor's Notebook editor. I look forward to this new challenge and to working with each of you. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you have questions, suggestions, articlesto submit, or if I can be of assistance.

-Jean Atwater-Williams

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Career Ac vi es Corner: K-12 College and Career Readiness Ac vi es Reach Higher MA WG #1: Viable Careers and Citizenship for All hosts this Career Activity Corner to encourage infusion of a career development strand into your school counseling curriculum. K-12 lessons with identified standards alignments, measurable student learning objectives and outcomes, and interdisciplinary curriculum links welcomed. Email Helen O’Donnell, Ed.D helenod@att.net.

CAREER PLANNING FOR ALL K-12 STUDENTS

by Helen C. O;Donnell, Ed.D and Christine Scafidi Luzi, M. Ed., CAGS Join the MA DESE’s Future Ready Campaign: (1) Start Now; (2) Aim High; (3) Look Beyond.

As you reflect on your Tier 1 career/workplace readiness curriculum delivery for this academic year, reflect on how your school delivers and supports K-12 career planning and the development of individual career plans for all students. Aligned with the MA Career Development Education (CDE) Benchmarks, building your career/workplace readiness strand is an important curriculum partner with the Academic/Technical and Personal/Social (SEL) components of the MA CDE Benchmarks. Take time to identify how your department and school community provide vertical alignment and development of each students “career readiness” as they progress through their school years.

Most available online platforms guide, strengthen and/or supplement Tier 1 school counseling career curriculums (ex: Your Plan for the Future, Naviance, MassCIS, Career Cruising) are designed for high school (HS), 8

but explore online platforms for middle school (MS) materials for your consideration. This article is not promoting a specific platform, it is just sharing what some colleagues in the field are implementing.

The Administration at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical HS is committed to supporting career readiness education for all their students and have selected Career Cruising as their core career planning curriculum platform to guide student portfolio development. Administration strengthened and reinforced the importance of this career initiative by requiring successful completion of identified Career Cruising activities as mandatory components of each grade levels promotion requirements. The school counseling team has identified Tier 1 Career Cruising activities for each grade level seminar, developed Camtasia, self-directed videos as classroom and website resources to support and guide successful completion of Career Cruising activities, and monitor completion for grade level promotion. A snapshot of the GNBVT career curriculum strand: Grade 9 – Career Cruising (Matchmaker, My Skills, Learn-

ing Styles Inventory, GNBVT Career Cruising Camtasia Video Grade 10 – Career Cruising Activity 5 Using Career Selector, GNBVT Career Cruising Camtasia Video plus Career Planning Activities, Extracurricular Activities, Awards + Certificates, Skills and Abilities Grade 11 – Career Cruising Activity 9 Career Interview Project, GNBVT Career Cruising Camtasia Video Grade 12 – Career Cruising Activity 12 College Research Exercise (college bound seniors) -or- Activity 5 Career Selector (military or workforce bound seniors) plus Career Cruising Camtasia Video The Westport MS-HS counseling team has chosen to implement the HS version of MassCIS for consistent development of student portfolios. Sherry Michael, MS counselor, states her 8th grade career curriculum goal: “Students will initiate a MassCIS portfolio, complete a career cluster inventory, and begin to explore a career cluster.” Target student learning questions for her lessons include “How do my skills, interests and values guide my choice of career?” and “How can I begin to find a career that fits my skills and interests?”. (continued next page) COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

CAREER PLANNING (continued)

Like many high schools, Upper Cape Regional Technical HS has been successfully using MassCIS as part of their school counseling curriculum for student career portfolio planning. Finding the MassCIS platform activities robust and current, Jennifer McGuire reports that the school counseling team has made the decision to use the MassCIS exclusively as their career planning platform.

With sincere appreciation to Amy Wheeler-Sutton, editor of the Counselors Notebook from October 2015 through June 2018

Join DESE’s FREE MyCAP training initiative this year. High School teams are invited to participate in 3 free training sessions oered regionally around the state to provide awareness and technical support developing their curriculum plans. Registration also in process for MA Model Introductory Institute ,MA Model 2: Next Steps, and. Counselors in K-12 Classrooms.

MASCA website has details.

SEPTEMBER 2018

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COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Implementing MA Model 2.0 for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs: Measuring Implementation Progress by School Counseling Practitioners Helen C. O’Donnell, Ed.D helenod@att.net MA Model Trainer, MASCA GB Member, and MASCA MA Model Chair Christine Scafidi Luzi, M. Ed., CAGS – MASCA MA Model Committee For the past year, the Counselor's Notebook articles have focused on developing an understanding of the components of the updated MA Model 2.0. This year the articles will expand and focus on measuring practitioner implementation efforts and expanding implementation strategies. As stressed in past articles, implementation is an on-going, reflective and fluid process that happens over time and includes the cycle of inquiry format, data collection and analysis, and strategic action planning to meet identified student needs to close achievement gaps.

What does the data say about MA Model Implementation progress by K-12 school counselors? In reality, we have very few measures except for the cumulative number of MARC and MARC Jr. documents recognized by MASCA, plus the number of counselors and schools participating in the MA Model Institutes. It is time to face the challenge of identifying and collecting implementation data from counselors in the field.

What is your progress implementing a comprehensive school counseling program based on the aligned ASCA 3.0 and updated MA Model 2.0 program components? Begin your Implementation assessment by reflecting on your end year program evaluation discussed in the June ’18 Counselor's Notebook and ask these questions to help you plan robust MA Model implementation for the upcoming academic year. To help us collect some baseline data, go to masca.org where you will find the link to share your responses online. Note: For a more comprehensive program self-study refer to the appendix of MA Model 2.0, downloadable from MASCA or DESE websites, Accountability Are you collecting and using data analysis findings to plan intentional curriculum and programming to meet identified student needs and close achievement gaps? Yes No Are you sharing student and program data summaries and findings to inform stakeholders of successes and areas for program growth? Yes No If yes, how?

Foundation Does your program have a school counseling vision and mission statement aligned with your school’s goals?

Yes No Delivery Is your curriculum written, standards aligned, clearly identify student learning targets, and collects student learning data to assess the impact of the instruction? Yes No Are your curriculum and lessons minimally aligned with the MA CDE benchmarks standards and ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for Student success? Yes No Management Do you have an annual department calendar to inform stakeholders of school counseling programming and events?

Yes No Do you have a Tier 1 school counseling curriculum map aligned with all areas of the MA CDE Benchmark strands?

Academic/Technical - check one: 0 lessons/yr. 1-3 lessons/yr.

4-6 lessons/yr.

7+ lessons/yr.

Workplace Readiness - check one: 0 lessons/yr. 1-3 lessons/yr.

4-6 lessons/yr.

7+ lessons/yr.

Personal/Social (SEL) - check one: 0 lessons/yr. 1-3 lessons/yr.

4-6 lessons/yr.

7+ lessons/yr.

SEPTEMBER 2018

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Massachusetts School Counselors Association, Inc. COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK Jean Atwater-Williams, Editor

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The Mission of MASCA The mission of MASCA is to advocate for school counselors in the Commonwealth of Massachuse s by providing leadership, collabora on, and professional development.

Stay informed by visi ng MASCA’s website regularly.

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